An Evening with Artists & an Art Exhibition at the Indian Consulate

New York, NY: The Consulate General of India. organized an evening of Art Exhibition by Mr. Nayan Mitra followed by speech on “Meditations and Arts” by Ms. Nilima Madan on Friday, March 11, 2016 in the Consulate’s ballroom. The program was attended by a large number of Indian community membershe program started with singing of Guru Mantra followed by Durga Stuti, an Orrisi dance. Consul General Ambassador (Mrs) Riva Ganguly Das welcomed the attendees. Mr. Nayam Mitra spoke about his Art work, the inspiration and what it means to him, followed by a speech on Meditation and Arts by Ms. Nilima Madan.

“Think in Hindi before you prepare your document in Hindi”, India’s newly appointed Consul General Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das would like her staff to think in Hindi in order to present better documents in the official language of India. The Consul General was speaking on the occasion of kick-off of the Third International Hindi Conference 2016 at an event held at the Consulate Ball Room on March 14.

“We are doing a lot of work in Hindi. If we think in Hindi we can produce more accurate documentation”, she explained pointing out her support to the cause of Hindi. Emphasizing the commitment of Government of India for promoting Hindi, the consul general said that more opportunities for Hindi learning should be created. She elaborated upon a diverse Hindi program conducted by Indian Council for Cultural Relations, a Ministry of External Affairs initiative that supports Hindi scholars in various countries around the world. The conference is scheduled to be held from April 29 to May 1 at the Consulate Ball Room.

Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs, Government of India,sent a message for the success of the conference. Ashok Ojha, coordinator of the conference, explainedthat the theme of the conference was, “Hindi Language: A Democratic Voice of Complex Issues in Education, Literature, Arts and Media”. According to Ojha Sweden based Hindi scholarHeinz Werner Wesslerhas agreed to deliver his key-note address at the inaugural event on April 29.

Ojha requested conference participants to register online through the link: http://www.hindiconferenceamericas.com/re gister/ He said that a Kavi Sammelan is scheduled onApril 30, the second day of the conference. A Humorous Hindi Play, ‘UdanKhatola’, and a story session, ‘Kahani Manch’, will also be held during the conference.

A number of speakers including Dr. Susham Bedi of Columbia and CUNY, Dr. Seema Khurana of Yale, and Dr. Rakesh Ranjan of Columbia, spoke at the kick off event. According to Khurana she will prevail upon Yale to host the conference in 2018. Others who spoke in favor of Hindi included Prof. Indrajit Saluja, Mrs. Purnmia Desai, head of Shikshayatan cultural organization, Col Veerendra Tavathia and media professional Sunil Hali. A cultural presentation by danseuse Rimli Roy and a poem recitation was performed at the function